The Diary
by Red Okami writer -Jiseru
Summary: You couldn't imagine how surprised Gibson was when he actually saw the folios all yellow and brown, wrinkled with age. The writing was in black ink, scrawled, and it was composed in a disorderly fashion that covered the entire page..."
1. Ancient Book Found

It was a cool afternoon in Autumn; leaves were beginning to gracefully fall off bright orange, pear-green, and golden yellow trees. Children played merrily along the raining leaves, skipping around and either catching them, one by one, or gathering a huge pile and bouncing in it, laughing like maniacs

Gibson gaped at the window, trying to catch a certain green monkey enjoying the fall. He crinkled his nose and looked about, side by side, up and down.

It was a wonder Otto wasn't outside.

"Antauri?" Gibson called, inspecting the view a few more times. "Have you seen Otto? I have something that needs to be mended, you see, and I'm postive Otto-"

"I haven't seen him since this morning," Antauri interjected softly.

Gibson gazed over his shoulder and winced. Antauri was on the floor, his mouth and eyes shut, his legs crossed, a relaxed posture sitting atop a blue-green pillow. Gibson backed away slowly, knowing this wasn't exactly the best time to interrupt the silver simian. He slinked out of the door and into the hallway, quietly sliding the door. He sighed.

"Well, this surely will be difficult," Gibson grumbled, strolling angrily past random doors and closets. "Otto could be _anywhere _with that curious mind of his. He...he could be eating, or sleeping in some abnormally random place, or-" He abruptly paused, noticing the familiar light jade colored tail wagging lively in the air. Gibson poked his head into the room, ogling his dark black eyes around. This chamber was a small library, with different types of books scattered on the floor. He sighed again, picking up the books from the floor. Otto just sat there, his own eyes simply imprisoned by a book seated comfortably in his lap.

"Honestly, Otto..." Gibson muttered, stacking the literature atop a shelf. He walked up to the green monkey and glanced over his shoulder, expecting the pages to have dozens of pictures of brilliant hues and excitment. You couldn't imagine how surprised Gibson was when he actually saw the folios all yellow and brown, wrinkled with age. The writing was in black ink, scrawled, and it was composed in a disorderly fashion that covered the entire page. Blotches of black stained the edges and in some parts the middle of the leaf.

"Otto..." Gibson finally said. "...What are you reading?"

A wide smile crossed Otto's face. "You'll never guess."

Gibson gave Otto an exasperated twitch and grabbed the book instantly. He browsed through it, hoping to catch some clues to what this manuscript was. It seemed so ancient. Otto waited, the grin growing on his lips, causing the flame in the blue simian to arise higher and higher. Finally he flipped to the first page, his head lowered, examining it harder. The style was in a thin black, written in a horrible attempt to do it in cursive. Dark splashes made it antagonize Gibson's willingness to endure this torture of not understanding something for once.

"It's in a complicated form of script," Gibson admitted with a sort of complaining tone in his voice. He closed the book, staring at the dulling rusty-dyed cover. "How am I supposed to read _this_?"

Otto still waited. He tapped his metallic tail patiently on the ground, making an entertaining rhythm, causing Gibson's tail to flare almost viciously.

"_Otto_...."

"Nuh-uh," Otto shook his head, taking the book away from Gibson. "Ask me first. I can read it clearly."

Gibson narrowed his eyes and held in the urge to throw one of the dictionaries at that smug face of his.

"_Fine_," Gibson growled stubbornly, his curiousity overpowering him more. "_Please_, Otto, explain it to me. I don't know what it is."

"Thank you," Otto nodded with satisfication, pressing the book against the floor. He opened the soft hardcover and turned to the first page. "See this?" He ran his finger past the two words that started the entire manuscript. "It says '_Mandarin's Agenda_'."


	2. YouThinkYouKnowItAll

"Amazing..." Gibson muttered, his eyes widening. He snatched the book from the floor and held it closer to his face. He chuckled a bit. "Of course! I can see it now. Only _Mandarin _would use codes to hide his actual..." He paused, tilting his head at the almost hysterical green monkey. "What's so funny?"

"You.. you think he's using _codes_?" Otto giggled, restraining himself a little. Gibson shot him a confused gaze and nodded slowly. "That's his _handwriting_. He always had lousy handwriting back then."

Gibson blinked back in surprise and blushed, turning away. "Then... how can you...?"

"I had to train myself _somehow_ to read his coordinates and directions for inventions," Otto grinned, taking the book back from the blue simian. He laughed a little again. "And I did. If I didn't, Mandarin would've really murdered me if I didn't finish up the things he wanted fixed or made." He brushed a speck of dust that landed on the page while Gibson gaped at him, his mouth slowly forming into a small "o". Otto crossed his eyes and began to imitate Mandarin's speech; "'Now I want this done _exactly _the way I wrote it, do you _understand_, Otto? If you don't...'" He made a small fist and waved it in the air. "'Oh-ho-ho, you won't be able to _see _the sunset again.'"

Gibson cleared his throat, fighting the slightest feeling of laughter. "So, Otto, does it say any dates on it when he started his Agenda?"

"Yeah," Otto stated, turning to the next page. "But to be honest with ya... the way he wrote it, it sounds more like a journal, or a diary."

"I would love to be able to read it..." Gibson whispered. He played with his own tail anxiously, waiting for Otto's reaction.

"I'll read it for you," Otto finally offered, eyes still on the book, flipping each page delicately.

"R-really?" Gibson stuttered.

"Sure," Otto shrugged. "Unless you think you're _too _smart for me to tell you bedtime stories every night."

"Okay, you're sort of pushing it now," Gibson growled.

Otto hid a smug grin. "Yeah, I know. Couldn't help it." He turned back to the first page. "_Year 4562; week 1; day 7." _Otto stopped. "Whoa...It was a _long _time ago, wasn't it, Gibson?"

Gibson shrugged and pressed his finger on the page, gesturing for him to continue.

"Oh, right..." Otto gazed back at the book. "_Descriptions of simians; black identified as 'Antauri', blue identified as 'Mr. Hal Gibson', red identified as 'SPRX-77', green identified as 'Otto' and yellow identified as 'Nova'._" Otto flipped the page. "Sorry; it has a bunch of boring stuff in the this page."

"Well, what you classify as _boring _may not be as it is to me," Gibson flicked back to the first page. Otto stared at it. "Well?"

"I don't think you'd want to-"

"_Otto_."

Otto sighed. "Listen; he wrote of what he thought of us in the first week we stayed with him. He didn't write nice things about..." He voice wandered off. He smiled again and laughed.

"_WHAT Otto_?" Gibson snarled impatiently.

"I guess I _could_ make a long story short then," Otto turned to the second page. "He said Sprx was irritating, Antauri was too 'Holy', I was too friendly, Nova was too weak, and well...." He gave him a lopsided smirk. "He called you a '_You-Think-You-Know-It-All'_."

Gibson rolled his eyes. "Was that _all_?"

"Nah... other stuff."

"Well, then?"

"I told you; I wouldn't feel comfortable repeating what _else_ he said in here."

"You are such a bellyacher," Gibson muttered. He spied the next page interestingly. "Go on."

"_Year 4562; week 2; day 1. Nova is amazingly getting better. She has mastered the technique 'Boom Boom Wake Up' quite quickly. Actually, the others are doing well with their moves. Except Gibson... He's still struggling with his drillers...._" Otto gazed sympathetically at the blushing blue monkey.

"You made that up, didn't you?" Gibson snapped.

"No, that's what he wrote," Otto shook his head. "Don't get mad at _me_, Gibson. _You're_ the one who wanted me to read it to you in the first place." He abruptly decided to change the subject. "Look at this." He pointed at a faded picture of Sprx and Nova training at the bottom left hand corner. "I think Mandarin drew this."

"Huh..." Gibson pushed his ego aside and admired the drawing. It was obviously done with a light blue ink. It was very well done and neat, with a thin black border around the sides shaped in a square. "It's incredible that someone with such a horrible handwriting could sketch something so..."

"Awesome?" Otto interrupted.

"Yes... I suppose it _could _be considered as an inspiring awe."

"_Whatever_, You-Think-You-Know-It-All."


End file.
